All Things Nice
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Nine-year-old Harry Potter is sitting in his cupboard under the stairs, when all of a sudden the door bell rings and his life changes for the better. Completely AU, set before Hogwarts, just a little drabble about Harry and his dog familiar.


**All Things Nice**  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Nine-year-old Harry Potter was sitting in his cupboard, quietly listening to the sounds coming from outside, where the Dursleys were readying themselves for Christmas together with their son Dudley. Harry never received presents, because he was a nuisance and not a good boy, and he had to remain in his cupboard so that Father Christmas would not notice what a freak was living in the house.

All of a sudden, the door bell rang. _'Maybe Aunt Marge,'_ Harry thought, for once not sad to be locked in for Christmas, as he absolutely despised his uncle's sister - a mutual feeling. However, he realised soon that not any relative but something strange seemed to be in front of the door, since his aunt let out a surprised squeal and shouted, "Vernon, come here quickly."

Harry heard his uncle stride through the hall, while his cousin stomped down the stairs above his head, and suddenly the growling of a dog penetrated his ears. _'A dog?'_ he realised in disbelief. _'Is that Aunt Marge's?'_

"Someone must have sent Dudley a dog for Christmas," Vernon stated in apparent surprise. "Probably Marge. We'll invite her over tomorrow son, so she can show you how to care for him."

However, the dog seemed to have other ideas. =Leave me in peace, Muggle. I belong to Harry Potter,= Harry heard the dog say. _'Wait, dogs don't talk,'_ he thought, wondering if he was dreaming.

"Stop barking you stupid dog," Vernon growled.

"Take him into the living room, sweetie," Petunia suggested.

Apparently, Dudley had tried to pick up the dog, because Harry heard the dog let out an angry growl. =Don't touch me Muggle. You're disgusting. Where's Harry?=

"Now stop barking," Vernon bellowed, causing Harry to look up with interest. _'Wait,'_ he thought. _'Uncle Vernon thinks he barks, but I hear him speaking. Am I nuts?'_

All of a sudden, he heard sounds as if someone was scratching against the door of his cupboard.

"Leave it; that's the freak's room," Aunt Petunia informed the dog. "Go and join Dudley in the living room. You're going to be his pet."

The dog let out a sound close to a snort, before he all of a sudden popped right into Harry's cupboard.

HP

Harry flinched back in shock at the sudden appearance of the dog, even if it was smaller than he had imagined it from the sounds and the way to speak that he had witnessed. However, before he knew what happened, the dog stood in front of him and eagerly licked the boy's face, waggling his tail in a fast movement.

"Hi there," Harry said in a friendly voice, as soon as the dog let go of his face.

=Hello Harry,= the dog replied, =I'm sorry for intruding so suddenly. I'm Sugar, and I'm going to be your familiar. Do you mind if I bond to you?=

"No, it's fine," Harry replied in confusion, without comprehending to what he had just agreed.

Just now then, the door to his cupboard was flung open and Petunia stuck her head inside. "Take that dog outside," she hissed. "I won't tolerate a dog in my house."

=I'm afraid that'll be impossible, because I already bonded with Harry,= Sugar replied in a firm but gentle voice. =Harry, please translate, as Muggles can't understand me.=

"Muggles?" Harry mouthed, giving the dog a questioning look, before he obediently explained to his aunt what the dog had said.

"Oh well he can stay here with you, but I'm not going to feed him," Petunia said in a huff and shut the cupboard door, firmly closing the locks.

=Muggles are non magical people,= Sugar explained in a small voice, apparently as to not upset his relatives, for which Harry felt extremely grateful.

"Non magical?" he queried, horrified. "That word is absolutely taboo here. I know that there's no such thing as magic."

He had the impression as if the dog chuckled. =No Harry, there's magic, and you and I are magical, but your relatives aren't.= He remained quiet for a few seconds, before he added, =I'm a crup.=

"I'm sorry Sugar, but what's a crup?" Harry whispered, giving the dog a curious look. It was a fairly small dog. He was white with a few black spots, and his face was white, black and brown. _'He's cute,'_ Harry thought, smiling at the dog.

=A crup's a magical dog, the equivalent to the Muggle Jack Russel terrier,= Sugar explained. =I've been trained though to not attack Muggles, since it was clear that I'm going to live in the Muggle world during the next one and a half years. I'm still a puppy. I'm seven months old. Oh and the difference to the Muggle terrier is that I can speak and also pop myself to places, which is why I could come in here. Your relatives apparently didn't want to let me in here.=

"They hate me," Harry admitted in a small voice. "Why did you come to me though? I'm just a good for nothing freak."

=Nonsense,= Sugar replied in a sharp voice. =You're a wizard and I think you need my help. The person, who bought my twin and me when we were very small, trained us and then sent me to you to become your familiar. I belong to you now.=

_'How strange,'_ Harry thought. "Someone sent you to me?" he asked, incredulously. "But no one knows me. I'm only Harry, a freak and a burden to all the good people," he repeated what his uncle had firmly plastered into his brain.

=No, you're neither. You're a wizard, and you'll get to know the person and also my twin when you're going to attend Hogwarts in one and a half year,= Sugar replied, before he rolled onto his back, inviting Harry to rub his belly.

HP

Harry watched in amusement how the puppy drifted off to sleep. _'Well, that's probably the best thing to do here on Christmas,'_ he thought and curled up around his new pet in order to take a nap as well.

Harry woke up when the puppy stirred in his arm. Sugar stood up, shook itself as if to fluff his short hair and enquired, =I know that your aunt said she wouldn't feed me, but don't they give you anything either? And will you be locked in the whole day?=

"Yes," Harry replied, smiling. "I'm used to it. I'm sorry that I can't give you anything though."

=That's all right,= the puppy whispered, letting out a huge yawn. He turned around for a few times, before he spoke up again. =I need to take care of some business now and I'll go and look for food for both of us. I might be away for a bit though, as I need to practise taking things with me, but I'll be back before the night in any case.=

"All right," Harry agreed in amusement at the puppy's antics. He observed in amazement how the small dog just readied himself by straightening his ears, before he suddenly popped away. _'He's awesome,_' he thought, suddenly feeling very alone and cold in his small cupboard_. 'I hope he'll really return. Maybe he noticed what freak I am and won't.'_

HP

To Harry's utter relief and joy, the puppy returned in the early evening. A tiny blue bag was attached to his right front leg, and Sugar immediately held out his leg to the boy.

=Take this off please. Sorry, but my magic still isn't strong enough to carry things when I pop myself,= he explained, happily licking Harry's face when the boy immediately freed his leg from its additional weight.

Seeing that the dog gave him an expectant look, Harry whispered, "What is it?"

Sugar's tail was still moving from one side to the other, as he replied, =Place it there into the corner and tap it with your hand. Then you can unpack it.=

_'How strange,'_ Harry thought but obeyed. The dark blue bag significantly grew, and he hesitantly stuck his hand through the small opening. He pulled out a small box.

=Yes, this is mine,= Sugar commented, waggling his tail in anticipation. =Go on.=

Feeling more confident now, Harry reached into the bag again, pulling out another box with a complete, cooked menu along with a bowl with desert and a glass with some orange liquid. A fork, a knife and a spoon were attached to the plate with the main dish.

=Now let's eat,= Sugar suggested. =Afterwards, you can look what else they packed for you.=

Harry hesitantly took a fork full of the meal only to realise that it was the most delicious food that he had ever tasted. He happily ate as much as he could, before he felt completely stuffed. From Sugar he learned that the orange liquid was pumpkin juice, and he enjoyed it immensely.

=Put your food back into the bag for later on,= the dog instructed him.

Harry did as he was told, realising that there was indeed something else in the bag. It was a book. _'A book, a book for me,'_ he realised in amazement, looking at the title. "_'Hogwarts: A History'_," he read, giving his familiar a questioning look. "What's Hogwarts?" he asked, hesitantly, recalling that Sugar had mentioned the name earlier.

=Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is the boarding school that you're going to attend when you turn eleven,= Sugar explained. =It's a great place. My twin is residing there. Now don't move the bag from there. Leave it as it is, they'll probably send more to eat for us straight to the bag tomorrow,= he instructed the boy, only to add, =Your relatives won't be able to see it. It's charmed to be invisible to Muggles.=

_'This is the best Christmas ever,'_ Harry thought when he went to bed after two hours of reading his new book. As soon as he had made himself as comfortable as possible on his small mattress, Sugar jumped onto his pillow and crawled under the covers, cuddling close to the boy.

_'I'm the happiest boy in the world,'_ Harry thought. _'Thank you so much... Father Christmas or whoever you are... for giving me this wonderful pet.'_

HP

During the remaining days of the holidays, Harry busied himself reading his new book and listening to his familiar, who told him as much as he knew about the magical world in spite of only being a puppy. Like Sugar had predicted, the blue bag contained new meals for both of them three times a day.

"What am I going to do with you during school?" Harry asked one evening, knowing that he had to return to school from the next day onwards. Usually, he had been looking forward to school, because it gave him the opportunity to get away from the Dursleys and the school teachers were all very friendly to him. However, knowing that dogs weren't allowed at school, he for once did not feel very happy at the prospect of going to school again.

=Don't worry Harry, I'm going to go and visit my twin during school time. I'll be back and waiting in front of the school, when it's over,= Sugar promised, calmingly licking Harry's face.

HP

To Harry's relief, Sugar accompanied him up to the school gate in the mornings and was already waiting for him when school was out. _'Thank God Dudley and his gang won't be able to do anything to me on the way back,'_ he realised, feeling very happy at the comforting thought.

However, not wanting to miss his favourite sport of Harry hunting, Dudley decided to pester his cousin during lunchtime. Knowing what Dudley was going to attempt, Harry always kept close to the teacher who was supervising his class. One day though, the teacher was preoccupied with a girl who had managed to injure herself, and Dudley did not miss the opportunity. He gathered his friends for a game of Harry hunting - which ended as soon as a growling black and white something appeared out of nothing and chased the boys away from Harry.

=You idiot,= he growled at Dudley. =Leave my Harry in peace or I'm going to bite you.=

"Stop barking. They've already stopped pestering Harry," one of the girls said to Sugar, who merely growled at the girl and ran over to Harry and eagerly licked the boy's ear with his tail waggling happily.

"Thanks Sugar," Harry whispered, gratefully. "You're the best."

=Any time,= Sugar replied, and Harry had the impression as if the puppy was grinning.

HP

It was on the first day of the Summer holidays that Harry woke up one morning feeling miserable. _'Oh no, I'm ill,'_ he thought, sadly. _'Thank God that the Dursleys left for their holidays last night, so I can just take turns doing my chores and resting.'_

However, Sugar had other ideas. =Are you ill?= he enquired, noticing the heat that the boy radiated.

"It's probably just a cold," Harry whispered, noticing that it hurt to speak aloud. "I'll be fine."

The dog carefully licked his cheeks and his burning forehead, before he made himself comfortable on the boy's stomach.

A few minutes later, the blue bag that was still sitting in a corner of the cupboard providing them with food and the occasional book, began to blink, alerting them to the fact that something new had arrived.

_'I have to feed Sugar,'_ Harry thought and dragged himself out of bed, gently pushing Sugar off his belly. As usually, he found Sugar's and his breakfast in the bag, but there was also a long, glassy stick. Harry gave the dog a questioning look.

=It's a diagnostic tool,= Sugar explained. =You need to stick it into your mouth for a few seconds, and it'll cast an internal, diagnostic spell. The Healer at Hogwarts sent it to you, and if she knows exactly what's ailing you, she's going to send you potions.=

"How do you know all these things?" Harry enquired, absentmindedly playing with the stick in his hands.

=My twin informed me telepathically,= Sugar replied, giving Harry a pointed look, before he tuck into his breakfast with apparent gusto.

Harry sat on the edge of his mattress, hesitantly placing the strange stick into his mouth, shivering violently at the cold touch. An instant later, the device turned completely red, and a female voice informed him, "You caught the Muggle flu with a fever of 40.2 degrees. Stay in bed."

A few minutes later, two small phials arrived in the bag, and Sugar instructed Harry to drink them up and place the empty phials back into the bag like he always did with their empty meal boxes. To his surprise, he felt much better after gulping down the liquids, trying to listen to Sugar's instruction to not linger on the taste.

_'That's medicine,'_ he thought in surprise. _'I didn't know that medicine worked so well.'_ He had never been allowed to take medicine so far, since the Dursleys claimed that it was only for good boys and not for annoying freaks; however, he knew by now that the Dursleys' law was invalid when being together with Sugar.

Every four hours, new potions arrived in the bag, and Sugar made him use the diagnostic device each time before taking his potions. Harry spent most of the day asleep, with Sugar snuggled against him, and when he woke up the following morning, he felt completely well again.

HP

It was exactly a year later that Harry received his Hogwarts letter. He immediately sent his reply and began to count the days until he would be able to leave the Dursleys.

"Sugar, where am I supposed to buy my school things?" he asked, looking at the list, which he had received together with his letter. "And am I able to bring you as my familiar?" he added in concern. "It only lists cats, toads and owls as pets."

Sugar gently licked his hand that was holding the parchment. =Of course I'm going with you,= he replied in a soothing voice. =My twin is living at Hogwarts too as the familiar of the professor that he belongs to. No one will be able to prevent you from bringing me. I grew up at Hogwarts and it'll be our home from now on.=

=As to your school supplies,= he continued after a little while, =we can go right away. I can pop you with me, but you must help me.=

"How can I help you?" Harry queried, quirking an eyebrow in confusion.

=You must try to think going to Diagon Alley and put some magic into the thought,= Sugar explained. =My magic is fairly strong now that I'm grown up, but still it affords a lot to pop together with you.=

To Harry's relief, they managed to properly travel to Diagon Alley, which he liked immediately. As usually, his dog knew exactly what he had to do and helped him gather all of his school supplies.

When the two travellers were back in their cupboard later the same day, they found a ticket for the Hogwarts Express in the blue bag.

"Platform nine and three quarters?" Harry read with a combination of amusement and disbelief. "Do you know how to get there?"

Sugar, who was just cleaning his right front paw, fluffed his fur and replied, =Hold on for a moment. Let me ask.= A few minutes later, his tail suddenly began to move quickly and he informed the boy, =I know how we're going to get there. Don't worry. Before we leave, I'm going to teach you a shrinking spell so you can put your luggage into your robe pocket, and then we can pop straight onto the platform.=

"Oh that's good," Harry replied, feeling very grateful to his clever familiar. _'What would I do without him? I'd never be able to get to Hogwarts,'_ he thought, sighing happily. "Thanks so much for everything," he told the dog, gently petting him.

HP

Finally, the big day arrived, and Harry and Sugar managed to board the Hogwarts Express on time. One boy, who entered their compartment, fled immediately after spotting Sugar, stating that the dog might eat his rat, but together with a pair of twins, a girl with bushy brown hair and another boy, whose toad constantly tried to get out of the compartment, they spent an enjoyable travel.

_'I wonder where I'm going to be sorted,'_ Harry mused, while he was sitting in one of the boats crossing the Hogwarts lake. _'I don't really mind though. Any House will be fine.'_

HP

Three hours, a Sorting ceremony and a Welcoming Feast later, Harry followed his housemates into the Slytherin common room. Sugar was walking close to Harry with his tail wiggling in apparent anticipation.

"Be careful that your tail doesn't come off if you move it too quickly," one of the other first-years told Sugar, who merely returned a few sounds of excitement.

By the time they entered the common room and readied themselves for the House meeting that was going to commence shortly, Harry discovered the reason for his familiar's enthusiasm. He had just sat down together with his classmates, when another dog, looking exactly like Sugar, appeared together with their Head of House.

=Harry, Harry,= Sugar shouted, already jumping forth and back to greet the other dog, =this is my twin Spice... and his familiar Severus Snape.=

"Sugar and Spice," the professor suddenly called out to the twin dogs, "be quiet or go into my quarters to play."

_'How strange. He looks very scary, but he must be really nice, considering that it had to be him who gave me Sugar,'_ Harry thought, feeling very glad to finally be at Hogwarts. _'Thank Merlin I ended up in the House, where Spice lives too,'_ he thought, happily, completely losing himself in his thoughts, before their Head of House called his name in apparent annoyance, bringing him back to reality.

**The End**

**Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice**

**Happy Christmas!**


End file.
